Family Y gets new lease in Grovetown

The Family Y and Columbia County Com­mis­sioners have reached an agreement on a lease for a shared new facility in Grovetown’s Gateway.

The plan recently went up for revision after initial construction bids for the county’s 49,000-square-foot multipurpose facility came back higher than budgeted.

County officials sent the plan back to the drawing board and began renegotiating the Y’s lease. At their Tuesday meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a five-year lease that will net the county $1.3 million.

The lease calls for the Y to pay $12 per foot for its first year in its 16,500-square-foot portion of the facility, with that amount rising to $20 per foot by the fifth year, said Columbia County Administrator Scott Johnson. As of the sixth year, the Y would be able to continue the lease at market rates on a year-to-year basis, Johnson said.

Y officials have said they plan to build their own facility on a site adjacent to the county’s building within the next 10 years. Construction on the county-owned building is expected to begin next year, with funding from the sales tax.